To develop interagency collaboration at the State and local level that ensures existing resources are shared and support the expansion and improvement of family literacy services

To establish a family literacy program improvement system that promotes continuous program improvement and builds local capacity to improve and expand high-quality services

To provide high quality professional development opportunities for family literacy providers

Project Description

Members of Pennsylvania's consortium will participate in planning and implementing public relations and information dissemination efforts, assist in setting priorities and criteria for selection of demonstration projects; and participate in evaluation activities. Specific among those activities are promoting local collaboration among their programs, supporting a family literacy web site with links to affiliates' sites, developing press releases for agency newsletters, and modifying the existing State family literacy brochure to reflect consortium support.

Selected family programs will pilot newly developed family literacy performance standards. Based on their feedback, the standards and related guidelines for their use will be finalized, applied to all family literacy programs, and serve as the basis for performance funding. Software to collect valid and reliable family literacy data to measure performance against the standards will be developed. Regional family literacy assistants will be trained in the program improvement process and use of a self-assessment guide. As part of this initiative, a new professional development plan to promote high quality, integrated family literacy programming will be designed and implemented.

Priorities

Using research on reading and literacy in program planning

Implementing a professional development plan for staff

Increasing the intensity of family literacy activities for school-age children (up to 7 years old)